I too have sold audioquest cables. Sidewinder is a great budget cable. The difference it makes to cheap cables is huge. I WAS shocked to find the difference comparable to a new source. I love the balance of audioquest in general. It is smooth and natural,good bass and increased depth and focus. There are no nasties in this cable. No tipped up balance or increased highs and no thiness.Anyone who says audioquest is bright is hearing problems in the system that is not the cable.Great cable and a safe bet for most systems.I just laugh at people that say cables make no difference...

Imaging, Clarity, Details, Transparency

Mid-range performance is rather moderate

I have been working with AUDIOQUEST for more than 10 years. Generally
I would say that their analog interconnects contribute mainly to the stereo imaging
and sound clarity as well as to bandwidth and channel seperation. Speaker
cables are also producing wonderfull performances specially when you work with large three way and more floor standers .

Similar Products Used:

Monster cable, XLO

none

all

in general stay away from audio quest

we used to be their dealers here in asia, but
after we realy compared to even ordinary
copper wire, what this Sidewinder did to
the sound, after that, we not only threw it away but
cut it up into tiny pcs and stopped
selling audioquest.

more than a decade ago, this co used to make sense.
today, they dont care to listen to their own products.

any other wire, even radio shack
might be better for most systems
than buying this mistake of a wire.

we strongly recommend straightwire,
monster, and many other healthier brands
and some homegrown stuff too.
compare and see...
even a T amp will tell you this much difference.

take care
k

Customer Service

we were their dealer once

you guys dont have a ZERO star rating
or STAY AWAY lable ?

Similar Products Used:

over 200 other interconnects used
from usd 1 upto usd 400 per pair

Sound, sound, sound! in all dimensions.
Soundstage
Beautiful bass
Very nice detail and harmonics production
Very well build
Profy looks

At this price range? None. Not even for twice the price

Absolutely amazing value. For the money you pay for them (even if it's not a great eBay deal) they deliver a lot of the audiophile goodies. They produced a great upgrade to my sound to a quite larger extent than I ever expected. Beautiful soundstage, extremely clear and detailed reproduction of the very difficult mid-range, very crisp and well-defined highs; they reproduce the reach harmonics of human voice or "difficult instruments" (piano, cello, some wind instruments) beautifully. The allow a lot of air (the solo violins are a treat) in my system, so I have to disagree with one of the reviewrs. The most impressive result in my system was the way these cables handle the lower frequencies. Amazin! Tight, wel-defined, round yet not at all muddy.
If you're on a budget and are shopping for an entry-level audiophile cable this one will make you more than happy. I know now that I have to spend a lot in order to make as a significant an improvement as I did with the Sidewinders. Do not be afraid. These are very good cables from a very respectable maker. And they look very profy too.

Similar Products Used:

Ordinary RCA cables, some custom built from OFC, GE professional.

Midrange, clarity for dirt cheap.

None at this price.

I just wanted to change the sound of my system this time around and bought a couple of pairs of Sidewinder. I normally use Tributaries SCA 300, Kimber PBJ.

I would say these sound very open and have a sharp midrange, which mates well with my Mirage system. They have better bass than the twice as expensive Kimber PBJ's as well.

Overall, I like them enough to leave them in for awhile.. They are a bargain. Well made too.

price, none apparent

hard to distinguish l/r, product failure, stiff

These cables are stiffer than usual, due apparently to the solid copper core. Though the benefits of this are debatable, it does appear that the solid core may not be that durable. I have not handled these much since buying them a couple years ago, but a pair just recently crapped out on me. It started as a raspy, staticky sound out of one channel and progressively, gradually got worse. I thought at first it was a speaker, then my CD player. I assume that maybe these got kinked too much behind my rig. Though these were not expensive cables, I am disappointed a bit. Also, I could not tell any clear sonic benefits over less expensive, generic brands. Finally, as the sleeves and connector sleeves are both red, it makes it hard to distinguish the left from the right channel. Also, these supposedly work better when flowing in a certain direction. you need to look at the small printing on each RCA jack sleeve to see.

Similar Products Used:

generic Belkin-type cables

Amazing Cable My Bass has tripled Awesome Looks

None

I just purchased these analog interconnects for my subwoofer going from my Cambridge Azur 540A Integrated Amp. This cable is amazing. Now I will never buy Monster Cables ever again. Awesome cable

Similar Products Used:

Monster Cable

Value; smooth mid/high range; construction

Given its price/performance ratio--None.

Construction is very good, as evidenced by removing the end caps (marked for direction) and inspecting the very fine solder joints. Minimal solder is used and very well done. The cables semi-stiff, but not to difficult to route. A very neutral cable that communicates the ever-important mid/high range with clarity and accuracy. Low frequency is deep and well controlled. Utilizes 2 24 awg solid core wires.

Similar Products Used:

Straight Wire, Analysis Plus, Kimber, Other Audioquest

Cheap

None, for what I used it for.

I'm using these cables to connect my DirectTV Reciever directly to my Big Screen. Didn't want to spend alot of money for this application. More expensive cables didn't make any sense. I even tried a higher end cable from MITCABLE I unplugged from my Home Theater setup, not a lot of difference. However, this was a big improvement from having both video and sound coming from a coax cable...supplied by the Direct TV installer.

Similar Products Used:

MIT, Monster, Tributaries, TARALBAS

cheap, but solidly constructed

poor mid- and high-freq detail & air

You get what you pay for, which isn't much in this case. See my review of Audioquest's (slightly better) Copperhead for more details.

Similar Products Used:

Kimber Tonik, PBJ, Hero; Audioquest Copperhead, Turqoise; Monster 100, 200, 300 Mk II